“I felt good for our group” said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. “We went through our rookie tournament and then the game at home and the game in Winnipeg where we didn’t have any wins. So I’m happy for our group that we’re able to get one under our belt and hopefully keep that going as we move forward.”

Luongo was making his first start of the preseason for the Canucks and did not exude much confidence his team traded away the right guy at the NHL Entry Draft this summer. He also gave Canadian Olympic hockey fans a reason to worry.

And while Luongo did settle down in the second period the damage had been done as the Oilers showcased some of the offensive weapons they’ll be depending on this season.

Jordan Eberle Martin Marincin David Perron and Jesse Joensuu scored for the Oilers while Devan Dubnyk turned away 25 shots recording his first victory of the preseason.

“It was a good start there were a couple of really good bounces for us early on” Perron said. “After that I think we kept the pressure on although we didn’t score goals we kind of kept going at them. It was just overall a good road game for us and I know it’s only preseason but it’s got to start somewhere.”

Brendan Gaunce scored for the Canucks who had plenty of weapons in the lineup including Daniel and Henrik Sedin who have notoriously feasted on the Oilers. They too were making their preseason debuts.

Against the Canucks the Oilers looked sharp early troubling the home squad with their speed through the neutral zone.

Eberle opened the scoring on the power play just under five minutes into the contest on a wraparound.

Just over two minutes later Marincin doubled the lead when his point shot made its way through a maze of players and found the corner of the net.

Perron added a third 31 seconds later firing a shot through Luongo who had plenty of rust to shake off.

“It’s funny because Eberle was yelling for the puck on that play and I knew he was driving the net on the far side” Perron said. “I just kind of put it at the net. I knew it was either going to end up off his pad and on (Eberle’s) stick or in the corner somewhere where he could go and get it.

“It ended up going in I saw him celebrate so it’s good to get that one in but they probably all won’t go in like that.”